


The Rules Are Different In Space

by spopuhaul



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Abrupt Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Between Seasons/Series, Crushes, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends, F/F, Fluff, Growth, Lesbian Catra (She-Ra), One Shot, Personal Growth, Queen Glimmer (She-Ra), Secret Crush, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:22:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26574442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spopuhaul/pseuds/spopuhaul
Summary: Catra and Glimmer are stuck together in space for quite a while.
Relationships: Catra & Glimmer (She-Ra)
Kudos: 19





	The Rules Are Different In Space

**Author's Note:**

> ik this isnt relevant anymore but i wrote a thing! i just wanted to put it SOMEWHERE, i doubt itll get any reads
> 
> btw i did NOT proof read this at all and it ends abruptly bc i just didnt want to finish it hah

The first few days on Prime's ship were tedious to say the least. Catra never expected to be stuck in space with Sparkles (quite honestly her last choice to be stuck with, she'd even rather be stuck with Kyle). Horde Prime wasn't as she expected him to be either. She used to think Hordak was intimidating, especially after he had her at his mercy back on Etheria, but now she had met Horde Prime. Hordak was nothing in comparison. 

Horde Prime had a sense of calm, unforgiving leadership, if that was even the right word. The ship was full of identical clones that were all under his command. Not exactly a pleasing sight for Catra and Glimmer. They had been brought forward to meet Prime, and he treated them with respect, although Catra already knew how manipulation went. She would not be swayed by Prime's obviously fake charm. 

Now they had gotten settled in. Being one of Hordak's closest confidants (at least, at some point), Catra hoped to rise up the ranks again, except this time as Prime's second in command. She was granted freedom to roam on the ship as she pleased, much to Glimmer's dismay. Catra had walked down every hallway of the ship, and had seen what she thought must have been most of the clones. Not even looking out into space seemed to give her any satisfaction. The stars didn't appeal to her, they just reminded her of the mistake she had made with the portal. 

At a certain point, Catra decided to go down the hallway with the room that held Glimmer. She had been trying to avoid her this whole time, not needing a reminder of Etheria. But now boredom had encapsulated her and Catra, although reluctant to admit it, had something inside her that longed for familiarity. Even if it was hostile. The green translucent barrier that separated Glimmer from the rest of the ship was a somewhat pleasing sight to Catra. 

"Hey, Princess," Catra called out to her with a smirk on her lips. She had been waiting patiently this day to visit Glimmer. Catra hoped to annoy her. 

Glimmer sighed and got off the cot she was laying on. "Actually, it's Queen now," she corrected with a cold edge to her voice. "What do you want?" Glimmer leaned on the wall, her arms crossed. 

Catra studied Glimmer, a quiet anger boiling deep inside. Glimmer was, in a way, at fault for Adora abandoning Catra. If she had never met the smaller, infuriatingly pink girl, Adora would still be with Catra. And they'd be ruling together. Catra scowled. 

"Nothing, I'm just bored," Catra jeered, resting her hands on her hips. "I wanted to remind myself how  _ lucky  _ I am to be able to roam. That prison is nothing I'm envious of." This was true, Catra did appreciate having her own quarters she could come and go to as she pleased. It was definitely better than being confined inside that prison cell. Although, she did have to admit that it was a nice little room. Much better than anything she had in the Fright Zone, but Catra would not say it out loud. 

"Oh, so you came here to gloat?" Glimmer scoffed, looking away. "Leave me alone, Catra. I don't want to talk to you." 

Catra snorted, her tail flicking. "Fine, I have better things to do anyway." She turned around and walked away, not even looking back at Glimmer who watched her leave. 

Glimmer balled her fists and sat back down on the bed she had been provided. It was certainly smaller than her room back in Bright Room, but that was to be expected. As much as Horde Prime called her a respectable guest. "Royalty," he would say, Glimmer knew that in the end, she was just a prisoner. The days got longer, or so it seemed. She was unable to tell time anymore. The only way to tell the passing of hours was by a distant beeping alarm that would sound what seemed like every hour. Glimmer figured it must be some kind of security system. She would never know, of course. She wasn't the techy one. 

That was Bow. Bow was the team's tech guy. He always made trick arrows for all kinds of situations. Him, Adora, and Glimmer always made a great team and Bow would often call the three of them the "Best Friends Squad". As much as Glimmer pretended to hate it, she secretly loved it. 

Glimmer sighed. She missed Bow and Adora. Yes, they disobeyed her direct orders and went ahead to Beast Island, but she started to think they were right. The Heart of Etheria was much more dangerous than she could have ever thought. Maybe she should have listened to Adora. She was wrong for yelling at them and treating them like that. Glimmer only hoped that they would forgive her. That they would come save her. 

For now, all she could do was wait. And so wait, she did. She paced back and forth for hours. When one of the clones would bring her food, she'd eat it hastily and return to wondering whether her friends would come. Horde Prime had gotten word of her apparent frustration and restlessness. He decided out of the "mercy of his heart" to give his royal guest a pencil and paper.  _ "Perhaps she can find something to do. Pacing is not fit for a queen."  _ Glimmer scoffed at the memory. 

Glimmer would draw when she got tired of thinking. She'd draw what she saw on the ship, and no, she was not the best artist, but that didn't matter to her. She would draw the clones, the bed, the table. She would even try to draw herself. She'd draw her friends to make sure she didn't forget what they looked like. She'd make sure to remember Bow's cropped shirts and Adora's hair poof. After all, she didn't know how long she'd be on the ship. 

But she would never draw Catra. All she wanted was to forget Catra. Forget the suffering her and the Horde caused her. Forget the fact that Catra is indirectly responsible for her mother's death. Maybe, in a way, all of this was Catra's fault. Glimmer couldn't explain why, but she knew deep down that it was. On the other hand, maybe she was being unfair. Catra grew up in unfortunate circumstances, especially being mistreated by Shadow Weaver. Glimmer herself had made the mistake of trusting her. She groaned and shook her head, throwing the pad of paper across the room. There's no way that Catra could have ever been anything but evil. "Horde scum," Glimmer muttered under her breath. 

As for Catra, she often found herself unenthusiastic to continue. There was nothing for her on the ship, and nothing for her in the rest of the universe. The maze of a ship made no sense to her and despite wandering the halls, she always got lost in the turns. Countless times, she would be turned away by the clones. She was not allowed in certain areas, but they would never explain why. Catra shuddered.  _ "Little sister,"  _ they'd call her. She had no family. 

Other than Adora. But she left. She abandoned Catra. Made her think she was second best. She didn't want her, didn't need her. But Catra didn't need her either. She continued walking down the hallway time after time, day after day. The visits to Glimmer's cell became more frequent as time went on. They were often short, filled with only a few words spoken between them,the air dense with animosity. At the end of the first month, it had become a routine to Catra. 

She would eat the food that Horde Prime would make and then make her way over to the hallway with the cell. Today was no exception. She waited for the food to come, but it never came. She decided to leave her quarters and make her way to Glimmer's cell once again. The end of the first month came slowly. After days on end exploring the ship, Catra was once again making her way over to Glimmer's cell. She had been watching the shorter girl for a bit who, for reasons Catra did not understand, occasionally yelled for help.  _ It's not like anybody is here to help you, Sparkles.  _

After the dinner they were forced to have with Horde Prime, Catra and Glimmer were both distressed at what had just happened. Horde Prime knew what he was doing. Manipulating. And Glimmer fell right into his trap. Catra tried to signal to her to be quiet, but she didn't seem to get the gist. She gave too much away, and now Catra was of no use to Prime. Honestly, she was starting to think she didn't  _ want  _ to be of use to him anyway. 

"You know he's using you, right?" Catra leaned on the green barrier that separated her from Glimmer. She grinned slyly at the obnoxiously pink girl. "You played right into his trap." 

Glimmer turned around from her place on the floor where she was sitting. "How can you be so sure?" Her mouth was pressed into a frown and she gripped the pencil in her hand harder. 

Catra flicked her ears. "I know what manipulation looks like," she growled. "I thought you did too. Didn't Shadow Weaver also manipulate you?" She pressed her index finger on the force field, pointing at Glimmer who stood up, baring her teeth. 

"I made a mistake," Glimmer yelled. "That's on  _ me.  _ You don't know anything about me!" Glimmer punched the barrier, making Catra flinch. Glimmer took a breath, placing her palm on the barrier, resting her head on it. "He was going to hurt her," she muttered. "He was going to hurt Adora. I had to stop him," she whispered. 

Catra grunted at the mention of Adora. Her tail flicked from side to side. "I know," she replied harshly. After three years of being Adora's enemy, Catra wanted nothing more than to defeat her. The only thing she could even imagine wanting more than to defeat Adora was Adora herself. But that was a silly thought, so she focused on taking Adora down. In space, there was no Adora, just Glimmer. Adora's  _ new  _ best friend. Catra figured that she would have to settle for her. She put her hand across from Glimmer's. 

"She'll be okay," Catra added, her voice lower. "Adora. She'll be fine. She always is, she's… Adora." Catra smiled a little with a sigh. She brought her hand back down, holding her arm across her torso. 

Glimmer laughed a little. She turned around, leaning her back against the barrier and looked into her holding cell. "Yeah, she's always okay," she said with a smile. "Even after all the stuff you-" she abruptly stopped for a second, swallowing dryly. "-the  _ Horde  _ put her through." 

Catra frowned, looking down at the ground. Guilt rose inside her like a small fire being blown on by a gust of wind. It had been building in her stomach since the whole portal incident and had spread around her body until now. She was burning with guilt. How silly. The fur on her tail prickled with growing unsettling emotions. She huffed and grabbed it harshly, smoothing it down. 

"Do you think she'll come?" 

Catra stiffened at her question. There's no doubt Adora would want to be the hero like she always is and save Glimmer. The question that had been gnawing at her like some rabies-infested dog was if Adora would save  _ her _ too. She'd like to think she would. At least, there was a time when she would; back when they were in the Horde together. They promised that nothing bad would happen to the other as long as they were together. 

But they weren't. Not anymore. And Catra knew that. She knew not to get her hopes up. No matter how Adora might have felt those first few months after they separated,or even those first few years, her pulling the switch changed everything. She messed up, and now she was really going to pay for it. Because Adora would come back for  _ Glimmer.  _ Not for her. 

"She'll definitely come for you, Sparkles," Catra muttered. She turned her back to Glimmer and left, not looking back to look at the other girl. 

Glimmer spun around, watching her leave. She wondered if she should say something. Call her back. Do anything. 

She decided not to. 

Instead, Glimmer turned around, grabbed her notepad and sat on her bed. She held a pencil in her shaking hand, and while biting her lip trying to hold back a sob, she wrote. 

_ I'm sorry.  _

She wasn't sure why she was sorry, but she was. From what she understood, Catra had a tragic life, and maybe what she needed now was someone who cared. She wrote about how she may not understand what Catra had really gone through, but she had sympathy. 

_ I think you could be a good person, if you tried.  _

She growled and scratched that part out. 

_ You can be better, I believe in you.  _

That was more adequate, according to Glimmer. She thought about what made Catra leave. 

_ Adora cares about you. She's just worried about the decisions you're making, but she'll always be there for you, if you let her be.  _

Feeling satisfied enough, Glimmer carefully tore the paper from the pad and folded it neatly, placing it next to her. She laid on her back, sighing. It was hard to tell how much time had passed since they had first been taken, but Glimmer's internal clock told her it had been at least two months. Two months trapped with Catra. At least she wasn't entirely alone. 

On the other end of the ship, Catra curled up on her usual ledge up high. She looked out the window into space, her mouth curled into a slight frown. She was tired. She had been tired for a long time. Maybe she was tired of being bad at everything. When she won, she lost. Even when she did well, it ended up wrong on her end. 

How could she ever win? She was destined to lose. She was useless to Horde Prime as far as knowing about the Heart. She couldn't admit it though, she had to find herself useful somewhere. Maybe she could be of use to Prime. 

Adora's face flashed in Catra's mind, and Catra pressed her eyes shut, tightening her body into a ball. She fell asleep, her body tense. The last thing she felt before drifting into sleep was the sensation of the ship straying further and further from Etheria. They must be hundreds of thousands of miles away from home. 

No, that wasn't her home. The Fright Zone wasn't anyone's home, especially not Catra's. Catra had no home, not anymore. Maybe if all of this had happened earlier, she would have wanted nothing more than to go back to Etheria, but now she didn't care. She didn't care what happened to her. 

So she slept with a blank mind. There was nothing in her dreams as she dozed off. 

Catra did not visit Glimmer for a week. She couldn't let herself get attached to her enemy. Horde Prime had been wanting to see her more and more, but she refused politely as much as she could. All throughout her time spent on the ship trying to ignore Glimmer, she couldn't help but have her at the back of her mind, creeping on every thought. 

The two of them were enemies, that's for sure. They fought tooth and nail and hated each other. But that was on Etheria. As much as she hated to admit it, Catra was lonely. She had been lonely every day since Adora left, and now she was extra lonely. If space had different rules, Catra wanted to explore them. Maybe Glimmer felt the same way. 

They both missed Etheria, for different reasons. Glimmer must miss her friends, her home. The way the sun warmed your skin or the way the breeze seemed to call her name. Catra didn't miss Etheria itself, no, it could explode for all she cared. She missed fighting with Adora. Pushing the line every time she saw her to get a reaction from her. She missed messing with her and getting better at what she did. Catra missed Adora. But she'd never admit it. After all, she was after something greater. Adora would only stop her from achieving it. Right? 

She decided to visit Glimmer again. The Queen had her back to the door and didn't hear Glimmer approach. Catra heard the faintest trace of breathless sobbing from the corner of the room, and something inside her turned. She felt… worried for Glimmer. She shouldn't, because they're enemies, but she did. Catra turned around and darted her eyes around wildly, trying to find a clone. 

As luck would have it, one of Prime's clones rounded the corner. Catra ran to him. She asked him to let her inside Glimmer's cell. 

"Why do you need to enter our guest's cell, little sister?" The clone spoke with the same tone of voice all of the clones had. One that was very similar to Horde Prime himself, yet slightly different. More  _ absent.  _

"I need to talk to her, please." Catra pulled on his arm, trying to inch him closer to the cell. 

"Very well, but remember. Prime sees all." He walked over to the cell, placed his hand on the barrier, causing it to drop. Catra ran in. 

"Sparkles," Catra called to her as she grabbed Glimmer from behind and turned her around. She watched warm tears slowly roll down her face. The barrier materialized behind her. 

Glimmer took a shaky breath. "I miss Etheria," she said after a brief moment of silence. "I miss Bright Moon, and I miss my mom, and I miss my friends," she continued to list, the tears falling faster. "None of this would have happened if I hadn't separated from Adora and Bow!" She cut herself off abruptly, taking in a sharp inhale. 

Catra watched her with a frown. She didn't know what to do. People never got this emotional in the Fright Zone. It was a sign of weakness. The last time Catra truly saw someone break down like that was when she herself fell apart after Scorpia disappeared. She looked at her tail which flicked at the tip, unsure of what to do. 

"It's not all your fault," Catra finally said softly. "I'm… I'm the one that sent Entrapta to Beast Island. I'm the one that pulled the switch. I'm the one that kidnapped you at Princess Prom." Her hands started to shake. "I'm the one that let Adora go!" Her voice raised, then caught in her throat. She clenched her hands on her thighs. "I'm the one that couldn't keep Adora," she said quietly. 

Glimmer placed her hands on Catra's to stop them from shaking. "We both messed up, huh?" She sniffled, a little smile creeping on her face. 

"You can say that again." Catra sat next to her on the bed. Her breath hitched in her throat. There was no way this was happening. But it was. Catra's tail flickered at her legs. "We're both just mess ups," she muttered with a grin. 

Catra knew she was the bigger mess up, though. Glimmer was on the right side of the war, and Catra knew that now. She wished she had known before. Maybe she would have had a chance, then. Her mess ups weren't mistakes, they were decisions. But maybe they were both. She couldn't really admit that though. It's too late to switch sides. Wasn't it? 

Of course it was. Adora had given her enough chances at the beginning of all this, but Catra denied them. Too "proud" to leave. To listen to Adora. She wishes she had though. Now all she feels is shame. Everytime she fought Adora, it felt like a game, some sort of ruse. All part of a larger plan, of course, just with some added fun (if you could even call fighting your ex best friend fun). 

Her biggest screw up was the portal. If Adora had any care left for her, it was now gone. It had to be. She really messed up, and it definitely reflected on her mental health. She even drove Scorpia away.  _ Do I even deserve anything?  _ Now fighting Adora seems like a chore, no matter how "fun" Catra tries to make it be. 

"Oh, by the way, I made this for you." Glimmer reached over and pulled out a neatly folded note, offering it to Catra, who took it with a swift movement of the hand. She opened it, looking at the neat writing inside. 

_ Truly the writing of a Queen.  _ Catra scoffed. She read the note slowly, taking in the words.  _ I believe in you.  _ She took a shaky breath.  _ Adora cares about you… she'll always be there for you.  _ There it was. A tear fell from Catra's eye, then a second one. They fell on the paper, absorbing into the parchment. She forced herself to stop at two tears. 

"Thanks, Sparkles." 

Glimmer laid her head on Catra's shoulder carefully. She could feel the stiffness in Catra's body. "You're welcome, Horde Scum." Catra's muscles contracted in what seemed like a restrained laugh. Glimmer wasn't sure if it was a good idea to be close with Catra like this, but it felt good. It was a good contrast to the loneliness she had been feeling for the past two and a half months. 

She closed her eyes, listening to Catra's slow breathing. It seemed almost calculated. Careful. There was a rumble deep in her chest, barely audible to Glimmer. This was wrong. Every alarm in her body was going off, but she kept dismissing them. There was certainly no wrong that could happen if she got closer to Catra, right? 

On the chance she got rescued, they could blame it on the loneliness and the fact that they were trapped together in a ship full of emotionally unresponsive clones of their captor. But for now, she was with Catra, and that was good. She felt something light and soft wrap around her back and rest on her hand. She opened her eyes, looking from the corner of her eye. Catra's tail. 

“I see you like to draw.”

Glimmer looked over at Catra, following her line of sight to one of the drawings she made of her and her friends. She nodded, bashful. "Yeah," she muttered. The way Catra's tail stayed still resting on her hand felt almost overwhelming. "I'm not very good though." Her crude little stick figures and disproportionate attempts to keep her friends face in her mind made her feel embarrassed. 

Catra purred softly. Glimmer didn't know if that was voluntary or if it just happened, but it was a nice sound.  _ Much better than her snarling at me,  _ she thought with a silent chuckle. 

"I used to draw." Catra's voice sounded unsure. Uneasy. Glimmer studied her face, trying to read it like she could read Bow or Adora's, but Catra's face gave nothing away. "Before I got so… busy. I would always draw funny things that happened to Adora and I back in the Fright Zone and show them to her." A small smile crept up onto her face. "She said she loved them everytime."

"And then she left, and I kept drawing. I wanted to pretend that she didn't leave, that everything was normal, but it wasn't." Catra's smile didn't falter, although Glimmer could swear it became a bit more pained. "I would mostly draw her, so I get where you're coming from." 

"Show me." 

"What?" 

Glimmer grabbed a notepad from across the bed and the pencil that laid on top. She shoved it into Catra's chest. "Show me! I want to see." She stared at Catra with an expectant gaze, a cheeky smile on her face. 

Catra flushed, grabbing at the notepad that was forced into her possession. "Fine, but only because I'm extremely bored." She gripped the pencil in her hand, spinning it between her fingers as she thought about what she could draw. 

_ Draw Adora. It's all you really know how to do.  _

She took a breath, holding it inside her as she began to sketch, the scratching of the pencil feeling as familiar as it did all those years ago. It came second nature to her, drawing Adora. She didn't even need to think about it. Catra knew what she looked like, she could probably draw her with her eyes closed. 

It was a quick few minutes until she finished the drawing, adding random little details and shading to solidify the messy sketch. It was definitely Adora, from the hair-poof down to her defined jaw. Catra held it out in front of her, observing it. She felt something in her chest twinge. She turned the notepad to Glimmer. "Is that good enough for you?" 

She looked up at Glimmer, who surprisingly had tears in her eyes. "It's perfect!" She leaned over to Catra and planted a soft kiss on her cheek, making Catra's entire body flare up. "Do you mind if I keep it?" 

Catra, still bewildered by the sudden act of affection, shrugged. She didn't need any more reminders of Adora. "Sure, I guess." Her voice was barely audible. Glimmer squealed happily and Catra's face remained a deep red. She wondered if Glimmer had felt it too. 

When Catra went back to her cell—she wasn't lying to herself anymore, it wasn't a room— she took her own pad of paper out. For the first time in years, her hands drew something different. It was unfamiliar to her, the lines messier than usual. Filled with uncertainty. It was Glimmer. 

She drew Glimmer from memory until she was satisfied that it was as picture perfect as possible. She had pretty much every detail down, even her little glitter particles. She observed her first  _ perfect  _ Glimmer drawing. Why was she blushing? 

It took Catra weeks to build up the courage to show Glimmer her drawing of her. She'd done several after her initial  _ perfect  _ one. But she wanted to make sure it was more than perfect. 

Once she finally built up the courage, Catra trotted to Glimmer's cell. She had found a way to bypass the barrier on her own, and hoped that Prime hadn't noticed and gotten it fixed. 

He hadn't. 

She entered the cell cautiously, making sure nobody was around to see, and waved at Glimmer who sat on the bed, throwing an item in the air and catching it again. "Hey, Sparkles. Feeling bored?" 

Glimmer sat up and sighed. "Yeah, it's been so long, I can't even tell anymore. 3 months? 4 months?" She frowned. Neither of them had expected to be stuck on the ship for this long, that's for sure.

"I don't really know myself. But yeah, something along those lines." Catra motioned to a spot next to Glimmer, inaudibly asking for permission. Glimmer nodded, patting the empty bed next to her. 

"I… made you something," Catra said quietly. She had initially gotten over the nervousness of giving it to Glimmer, but it was back again. Why was she so nervous? She was just giving Glimmer a  _ drawing.  _

_ Of her.  _

Catra shook her head and pulled out the paper from behind her. It was neatly folded in half. "Here, I hope you like it." She offered it to Glimmer who took it. 

Glimmer rubbed her thumb against the smooth paper, admiring the neatness of the fold. She opened it slowly, taking in every stroke of the pencil, every line, every detail. Her mouth widened into a toothy grin. "Catra, you made this for me?" Catra blushed, ducking her head from Glimmers view. She muttered an agreement. " _ Aww,  _ that's so cute!" She nudged Catra's shoulder with her own. 

"Yeah, whatever, Glitter. I thought you'd like it, and I wanted to practice drawing something… _different._ " Catra nudged her back. She certainly would have never thought that she would be sitting on the bed in Glimmer's cell, being teased because she drew her. If she could travel back in time to tell _Catra, But 4 Months Ago_ that this exact scene would be playing out, she was certain that her younger self would slap her. 

Glimmer gently placed the paper on her table, letting her fingers linger on it. A warmth set over her face, one that Catra hadn't seen before. It was almost the same look as the ones she'd seen on Adora's face all those years ago. Appreciative and… loving. 

And then it clicked. Maybe it was the fact that they were stuck alone, together, or maybe it was that the atmosphere on the ship felt ever so different from the one on Etheria. It clicked nonetheless. Catra… had felt something. Something deep inside, and a little faint, but unmistakably there. 

She had felt it before, back in the Horde when she was younger. It happened after a particularly rough training session that ended up with everyone in her group that except her and Adora being eliminated. The two battled for what seemed like hours, but in reality was nothing more than ten minutes. Once Adora had  _ finally _ managed to hit Catra's chestplate with her staff, the two were able to go to the locker room to wash off the sweat and get changed into a cleaner set of clothes. 

It was the same flutter in her chest. The first time, it happened with a little look that Adora gave her, her eyebrows strained the smallest bit, and the corner of her mouth raised a fraction of an inch. Something about it made Catra's heart ache. She pushed it deep inside, compartmentalizing it into a part of her brain she labeled  _ Useless Information.  _ She hadn't really thought it useless, she just wasn't allowed to do anything about it, so she kept it inside for years. Catra did a quick mental check.  _ Yup, still there. _

She found another memory there now. A fresh one, and she knew exactly what it was. It was Glimmer and her fond look at the drawing she made. Catra wished that she herself was the drawing. That memory blended with the cheek-kiss Glimmer gave her all those weeks ago. It felt like it just happened. Her cheek seemed to burn from the touch, even then. 

It was miserable. She couldn't handle harbouring these feelings for Adora, but now  _ Glimmer  _ too? It might have been easier if the first sin, the  _ original  _ sin had faded from her heart, but it still burned as strongly. Maybe her heart caught fire and she threw Glimmer in the flames. Somehow, Catra deduced that this was aol Adora's fault. 

She  _ wanted  _ to be here, with Glimmer. She wanted to touch Glimmer, to hold her, to exist near her. But Catra knew Glimmer would never feel the same way, so she pushed those thoughts deep down. She had done it before and she could do it again. It was easier this time, after all, Catra's had practice. 

Then, another thought struck her. If this happened to  _ her  _ of all people, with  _ Glimmer  _ of all people, it certainly could have happened to Adora. Catra knew that Adora had the ability to feel things for girls, they talked about it once during a sleepless night. She blushed so hard, which Catra thought was incredibly adorable before once again pushing that down. Now, 10 years later, could Adora have had feelings for Glimmer? There was no way of knowing, which made Catra upset for some reason. She wished she could ask her, but Adora wasn't even remotely near them. 

_ Stop thinking about it.  _

She took a sharp inhale and focused back on the scene in front of her. Only a few seconds had passed, but being stuck in her head made time pass differently. Glimmer was just now moving her hand from the paper, turning her soft gaze to Catra, who immediately blushed despite her best efforts. 

"Aw, are you blushing?" Glimmer positioned her elbow on her knee and placed her cheek on her fist. "That's so cute."

Catra buried her face into her hands in an attempt to hide. She longed for the ability to dematerialize right then and there. She didn't appreciate Glimmer calling out her involuntary action, and  _ definitely  _ didn't appreciate being called cute. " _ You're  _ cute," Catra retorted. 

_ Wait, did I just say that?  _

"I mean, no I'm not! Shut up!" Catra groaned as Glimmer burst into giggles. "Ugh, I hate you." 

Glimmer grinned at her. "I hate you too." 

  
  



End file.
